Tibetan compassion in action

'Respected Mother', Ama Jetsun Pema la is known to thousands of children in the Tibetan Children's Village to which she has devoted her life for over 40 years. Yet this sister of the Dalai Lama, who was educated in Catholic schools in India, and later in Switzerland and the UK, says she's only learning Buddhism formally now.

Her personal story of dedication to the Tibetan cause, support for her brother, His Holiness, and her own independent mindedness, combines compassion with a determination to see Buddhism change its attitude to women.

Australian nun the Venerable Thubten Chokyi is the director of the Liberation Prison Project in Australia, which brings spiritual relief and Buddhist discipline to prisoners in Australia and around the world.

She has been impressed by the hardened prisoners who have changed their lives as a result of their Buddhist practice.

Guests

Ama Jetsun Pema

The Dalai Lama's sister, Jetsun Pema was born in Tibet in 1940, educated in India, Switzerland and England. She returned to India to care for Tibetan refugee orphans, which grew into the Tibetan Children's Village (TCV) and the TCV schools, where she has overseen the education and care for thousands of Tibetan refugee children. In May 1990 she became one of the first three Kalons (ministers) in the Tibetan government in exile, and the first woman minister. In resigned in 1993 to become the first President of TCV, which she held until her retirement in 1996. Widowed in 1984, she is married to Tempa Tsering.

Venerable Thubten Chokyi

Australian nun, Director of the Liberation Prison Project, bringing Buddhism to prisoners around the world, Chokyi's teacher is Lama Zopa Rinpoche (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition - FPMT).